gg ANTKLOPE OF THE PRAIRIE. 



;ri;^e^ulTtte-mpt to approach them, which afforded me a first ink- 



hns- of tiie nature Mill character oi these anihtals. j „u„v^ 



f'hP autelooe of the grand prairie .lifilu-b but httle m size and shape 

 from Ao Son1heep,iKl is'coated with long britde hair -o a rudSy 

 brown color, except at the tail and head, w!iere it is short and white. The 

 feS is ho'rnlesB^xcept an occasional bVf corneous excr^™^^^^^^^ 

 fwn or three inches long protruding from tue liead. 1 he male, no\\e\er 

 requipp^r^^Sh Lok-rha.^^ antleS, etony colored, and six or eigbtinchc^ 

 •inlenlE which he shed= annually in the months of November and De- 



'"This'is the fleetest inhabitant of the prairie. No horse can compete ^ 

 with it n sneed Quick of sight, keen of scent, and acute of ear, it , 

 seems ever oS; abrt at the appro;ch of real or supposed danger,-now 

 sS advancing towards the object of its alarm or curiosity, -ihen circling 

 beSu with the flcetness of the storm-wind to mount some eminence iar 

 away bevond reach, and gaze in security. Then, again, ere you have 

 tiTe^ocS breath for admiration, it repeats its semi-gyi-ation from an 

 onTosited Section, still nearer and swifter, till past,--as if indeed borne on 

 Tw ngs of ightning-.-and yet again surveys yon in the distance. Now, 

 urn iWrom point, to ]»oint it examines you upon all sides, as it cautious y 

 V ^.P- round --then snuihng the breeze, it again calls to aid its fleetness 

 S ir^ib, a^ with L velocfty of thought is lost to view in tire vast ex. 



^""possessed of an inordinate share of inquisitiveness, it not unfrequentlv 

 faUsTv'ctim to its own curiosity. The hunter, turbaned with a red hand- 

 kercWe^ and half concealed behind some objec'c, first raismg, then depress- 

 fn^ts head, Ihen withdrawing it entirely from view, then again chsclosmg 

 it to the curious animal, is almost certain to allure his gan.e wuhm gun- 



'Yhave seen numbers killed in this manner. In the spring season they 

 appear more sensitive than at any other time, and are easily lured to tiieii 



%ith the exhibition of this strange propensity, I have ,ane and agairj 

 hPPn minded of its more fully developed moral protoiype m man. now 

 touStiv do we see persons around us who indulge their appetites aiiu 

 n3ons- as often for Sere curiosity as fancied pleasure,-venturing near- 

 ^r^d liS neter owards tlie objects that command their attent..n and 

 frrP them mto the vortex of ruin, till, with sure and deadly aim, the shafts 

 r/thpMer Dierce the wpniug vitals of morality, and plunge the vic- 

 &SCfnto a 'yawning abyss, where they are lost to themselves, 

 fn ROfietv and to the world — lost forever! j i„a„ 



Here then, il furnished for us a moral -.-Beware how you indulge a 



coSsidofKs,si^iuc)>Bs mto.tcr,levelW by these sagacou. ™. 



